Measure Twice, Cut Once . . .

Perhaps the most valuable piece of advice I ever received from my father, next to "don't stick your finger in that socket!", was the simple phrase - "measure twice, cut once." While obviously first intended for the construction trades, it now has wide applicability in many areas - rereading or proofing before sending email, double-checking budget figures, etc. In short: slow down, take the time to do things right, and be certain you have thought of everything before issuing the final product. Hard to argue with a saying like that.

But I digress . . .

As Head of a small, but growing elementary school, there are numerous challenges that pop up on a daily basis that larger and better staffed schools never need worry about. From clogged toilets to sick children; stray cats to burned out light bulbs, when there is no maintenance staff - everyone at the school is a member of the maintenance staff. Add to this semi-exclusive club, the occasional need for a male presence - there are only two of us on board full-time - and the situations requiring my own involvement seem to double. Cleaning up the occasional blood spill aside, it was just this opportunity for hands on involvement at all levels of the school that was one of the primary attractions for me for this position. Where else can you have lofty and ethereal discussions about curriculum and the value of cursive writing in one moment, and be removing a dead mouse from the trap in the faculty lounge the next? I love every minute of it!

Though dead mice are frankly - and thankfully - a rare sight around the halls of Global School, the sheer numbers of physical tasks around the campus, both small and large, dictated a new strategy to deal with them. To that end, I joined forces with our Physical Education teacher, Ben Maxwell, to try and anticipate and organize the various odd jobs we needed to complete. This works fine with what we know is coming - a truckload of books to be emptied and sorted, playground equipment to be assembled, etc. However, we had to be on call throughout the day in case anything unplanned popped up - from rounding up runaway crickets, rousting a homeless guy sleeping on the playing fields, to helping the trash collectors with overflowing garbage bags - no task is too small or too rank for us to handle.

Proud of our endeavors and willingness to leap into the breach at the first flicker of a failing light bulb, Ben and I "semi-incorporated" our efforts into the moniker "B and B Construction." While I am certain that numerous members of the staff would be willing to create, or perhaps already have created slogans for us - we have only this: "Call Us." With no fancy tools to be had, and, like most males, rarely feeling the need to read the instruction manuals, we forge ahead, confident that the true value of a good hard shove or shake, or perhaps simply brute force, is usually underestimated, yet can almost always get the job done.

Shy of fancy t-shirts with logos or much self-promotion, we ask only for the occasional challenge of assembling a Little Tikes playhouse, restoring a door falling off its hinges, or perhaps simply fixing a broken chair. All kidding aside, the chance to work with children every day in the classroom, as well as helping that classroom and the entire school function well enough to support their learning, is a rare and enjoyable opportunity.

Finally, though some would say that "B and B's" motto would be better served by "shove twice and ram once", Ben and I are confident enough in our own semi-professional work and limited skills to forego any franchising possibilities and just remain at Global School.

After all, who else would remove the dead mice . . .